Des Moines (LifeNews.com) -- An Iowa nurse is suing the hospital she works at because, as a patient there, officials apparently made a mistake by not telling her she was pregnant before undergoing a medical procedure. The procedure likely caused damage to her unborn child and she felt compelled to have an abortion against her wishes.

Kristy Oswald is a Catholic who opposes abortion but she felt obligated to have an abortion after the incident at Iowa Methodist Medical Center.

As the Des Moines Register reports, Oswald says officials at the medical center failed to inform her of a positive pregnancy test prior to a heart procedure in 2006.

According to the lawsuit she filed, Oswald had a pregnancy test performed prior to the cardiac ablation -- which involves wires inserted through blood vessels into the heart to treat abnormal rhythms.

Oswald's attorney Guy Cook filed the suit in Polk County District Court and said she was forced to have an abortion after learning the procedure likely hurt her baby. The suit indicated Oswald's cardiologist was also not informed of the pregnancy test results beforehand.

"It's a nightmarish, sad, sad situation," Cook told the newspaper.

Iowa Methodist Medical Center released a statement apologizing for the incident.

"Protecting and improving the well-being of our patients is our single goal and even the suggestion that somewhere, somehow a single safeguard may have failed, is unacceptable to us," it said.

"We sincerely regret this situation and extend our profound sympathies to the patient and her family," it added.

The statement made it appear the hospital may be interested in settling the case out of court.